The Well-Tempered Ear
Classical music: Tonight brings an all-Bach organ recital at Overture Hall. At the UW-Madison, this week brings music for band, brass and strings
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By Jacob Stockinger
TONIGHT, Tuesday, Oct. 23
At 7:30 p.m. in Overture Hall, Paul Jacobs (below) will perform an all-Bach program. Jacobs, who is the only organist to have won a Grammy Award, is the chair of the organ department at the Juilliard school in New York City and was the teacher and mentor of Greg Zelek, who is the new organist for the Madison Symphony Orchestra.
Heralded as “one of the major musicians of our time” by Alex Ross of The New Yorker and as “America’s leading organ performer” by The Economist, the internationally celebrated Jacobs combines a probing intellect and extraordinary technical mastery with an unusually large repertoire, both old and new. He has performed to great critical acclaim on five continents and in each of the 50 United States.
Jacobs made musical history at age 23 when he played Bach’s complete organ works in an 18-hour marathon performance on the 250th anniversary of the composer’s death. (You can hear Jacobs play Bach in the YouTube video at the bottom.) Jacobs has premiered works by Samuel Adler, Mason Bates, Michael Daugherty, Wayne Oquin, Stephen Paulus, Christopher Theofanidis and Christopher Rouse, among others.
During the 2018-19 season, Jacobs will perform the world premiere of John Harbison’s “What Do We Make of Bach?” for organ and orchestra with the Minnesota Orchestra under conductor Osmo Vanska; with the Cleveland Orchestra he will give the American premiere of Austrian composer Bernd Richard Deutsch’s “Okeanos” for organ and orchestra.
For more details about Jacobs, his complete all-Bach program and tickets ($20), go to: https://madisonsymphony.org/event/paul-jacobs/
WEDNESDAY, Oct. 24
At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the UW Concert Band will perform a FREE concert of music by Leonard Bernstein (excerpts from “Candide”), Vincent Persichetti, Percy Grainger, Mark Markowski and Steven Bryant.
For more information about the performance and the program, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/uw-concert-band-fall-concert-2/
THURSDAY, Oct. 25
At 7:30 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Wisconsin Brass Quintet and special guest UW percussionist Anthony DiSanza (below, in a photo by Katherine Esposito) will perform a ticketed concert of genre-bending music by Michael Tilson Thomas, Pat Metheny, Modest Mussorgsky, Alan Ferber, James Parker and David Sanford.
Admission is $17 for adults, $7 for students and children.
For more information about the performers, the program and how to purchase tickets, go to:
Members of the Wisconsin Brass Quintet (below, from left, in a photo by Michael R. Anderson) are: Daniel Grabois, horn; Mark Hetzler, trombone; Matthew Onstad, trumpet; Tom Curry, tuba; and Alex Noppe, trumpet.
SATURDAY, Oct. 27
At 8 p.m. in Mills Hall, the Pro Arte Quartet will perform a FREE concert.
The program features: the String Quartet in C Major, D. 46 (1813), by the young Franz Schubert; Three Rags for String Quartet (“Poltergeist” from 1971, “Graceful Ghost” from 1970, and “Incinteratorag” from 1967) by William Bolcom; and the String Quartet in E minor, Op. 44, No. 2 (1837), by Felix Mendelssohn.
For more information about the Pro Arte Quartet and its long, historic and fascinating background, go to: https://www.music.wisc.edu/event/pro-arte-quartet-3/
Members of the Pro Arte Quartet (below, from left, in a photo by Rick Langer, are: David Perry and Suzanne Beia, violins; Sally Chisholm, viola; and Parry Karp, cello.)
Tags: #AlanFerber, #AlexNoppe, #AlexRoss, #All-Bach, #AnthonyDiSanza, #AustrianComposer, #BandMusic, #BaroqueMusic, #BerndRichardDeutsch, #CandideOpera, #ChamberMusic, #ChristopherRouse, #ChristopherTheofanidis, #ClevelandOrchestra, #ConcertBand, #DanielGrabois, #DavidPerry, #DavidSanford, #FelixMendelssohn, #FranzSchubert, #GracefulGhost, #GrammyAward, #GregZelek, #HornMusic, #JamesParker, #JohannSebastianBach, #JohnHarbison, #JuilliardSchool, #LeonardBernstein, #MadisonSymphonyOrchestra, #MarkHetzler, #MarkMarkowski, #MasonBates, #MatthewOnstad, #MichaelDaugherty, #MichaelTilsonThomas, #MinnesotaOrchestra, #ModestMussorgsky, #NewYorkCity, #OsmoVanska, #OvertureHall, #ParryKarp, #PatMetheny, #PaulJacobs, #PercyGrainger, #ProArteQuartet, #SallyChisholm, #SamuelAdler, #StephenPaulus, #StevenBryant, #StringQuartet, #SuzanneBeia, #TheNewYorker, #TheNewYorkerMagazine, #TomCurry, #TromboneMusic, #TrumpetMusic, #TubaMusic, #UnitedStates, #UniversityofWisconsin, #UniversityofWisconsin-Madison, #UWConcertBand, #VincentPersichetti, #WayneOquin, #WilliamBolcom, #WisconsinBrassQuintet, #YouTubevideo, acclaim, adult, Alan Ferber, Alex Noppe, Alex Ross, American, anniversary, Anthony DiSanza, Arts, Austria, Bach, background, band music, Baroque, Baroque music, Bernd Richard Deutsch, Candide, Cello, Chamber music, children, Christopher Rouse, Christopher Theofanidis, Classical music, Cleveland Orchestra, complete, Concert Band, conductor, Daniel Grabois, David Perry, David Sanford, death, Early music, Felix Mendelssohn, Franz Schubert, free, Graceful Ghost, Grammy Award, Greg Zelek, History, Horn, Incineratorag, intellect, international, Jacob Stockinger, James Parker, Johann Sebastian Bach, John Harbison, Juilliard School, Leonard Bernstein, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, magazine, marathon, Mark Hetzler, Mark Markowski, Mason Bates, mastery, Matthew Onstad, mentor, Michael Daugherty, Michael Tilson Thomas, Minnesota Orchestra, Modest Mussorgsky, Music, new, New York City, New Yorker, opera, Osmo Vanska, Overture Center, Overture Hall, Parry Karp, Pat Metheny, Paul Jacobs, percussion, percussionist, Percy Grainger, Poltergeist, premiere, Pro Arte Quartet, program, rag, Ragtime, Sally Chisholm, Samuel Adler, Stephen Paulus, Steven Bryant, String quartet, Student, Suzanne Beia, Teacher, technical, technique, Tom Curry, Trombone, Trumpet, Tuba, tuba music, U.S., United States, University of Wisconsin–Madison, UW Concert Band, Vincent Persichetti, Viola, Violin, Wayne Oquin, WILLIAM BOLCOM, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Brass Quintet, young, YouTube
Classical music: New Orleans seeks to once again become an American opera capital with an emphasis on diversity
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By Jacob Stockinger
When you think of opera in America, chances are good that you think of New York City with the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Opera; the Lyric Opera of Chicago; the Houston Grand Opera; the Santa Fe Opera; and countless other opera companies in many major cities.
And when you think of New Orleans, you understandably think of jazz.
But the truth is that for a long time, New Orleans was an American capital for opera, more important than many of the other cities mentioned above.
Consider the fact that the first opera performed in the United States was performed in New Orleans in 1796. And that at one point, New Orleans was home to five opera companies.
Plus, the opera that was performed there in the past brought racial, cultural and gender diversity to an art form that often lacked it and was largely Euro-centric. (You can hear the company sing “We’re Goin’ Around” from ragtime great Scott Joplin‘s opera “Treemonisha” in the YouTube video at the bottom,)
Now some singers and others (below) have formed an organization – OperaCreole — with the aim of correcting racism and restoring New Orleans’ reputation for opera, especially that of the many African-American and Creole opera composers who were native to New Orleans.
A fine story, with an illuminating interview, recently appeared on NPR (National Public Radio).
Here is a link:
Another excellent story, with more focus on repertoire and history, appeared in The New Yorker magazine:
And here is a link to OperaCreole’s own website with more information about the company and its productions:
Tags: African American, America, Arts, Baroque, Chicago, choral music, cities, city, Classical music, composer, Creole, cultural, diversity, ethnic, gender, History, Houston, Houston Grand Opera, interview, Jacob Stockinger, Jazz, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Met, Metropolitan Opera, Music, New Orleans, New York City, New York City Opera, New Yorker magazine, NPR, opera, Opera Creole, OperaCreole, race, racial, racism, Radio, rag, Ragtime, repertoire, Santa Fe, Santa Fe Opera, Scott Joplin, The New Yorker, Treemonisha, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, US, vocal music, Website, Wisconsin, YouTube
Classical music: Performers should announce encores
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By Jacob Stockinger
All around The Ear, even very knowledgeable people were asking:
“What is that piece?”
“Who’s the composer?”
After a recent and superb performance of the Piano Concerto No. 4 by Ludwig van Beethoven with the Madison Symphony Orchestra under its longtime music director John DeMain, the renowned American pianist Emanuel Ax (below), who received a well-deserved standing ovation, played an encore.
And he played it beautifully.
But he was negligent in one way.
He didn’t announce what the encore was.
So most of the audience was left wondering and guessing.
Now, The Ear knew the composer and piece because The Ear is an avid amateur pianist and knows the piano repertoire pretty well.
The encore in question was the Valse Oubliée No. 1 in F-sharp Major by Franz Liszt, which used to be more popular and more frequently heard than it is now. (You can hear it below played by Arthur Rubinstein in a YouTube video.)
On previous nights, Ax – who is a friendly, informed, articulate and talkative guy — also had apparently not announced the encores. But on Friday night it was the Waltz No. 2 in A minor by Frederic Chopin and on Saturday night is was the Nocturne in F-sharp major, Op. 15, No. 2, also by Chopin. Chopin is a composer who is a specialty of Ax, as you can hear in the YouTube video at the bottom, which features his encore in an unusual setting pertaining to the Holocaust.
It’s a relatively small annoyance, but The Ear really thinks that performers ought to announce encores. Audiences have a right to know what they are about to hear or have just heard. It is just a matter of politeness and concert etiquette, of being audience-friendly.
Plus it is fun to hear the ordinary speaking voice of the artist, even if it is only just briefly to announce a piece of music, as you can hear below with Ax discussing the three concerts in Carnegie Hall that he did to celebrate the bicentennials of Chopin and Robert Schumann.
And it isn’t just a matter of big names or small names.
Emanuel Ax is hardly alone.
A partial list this season of performers who did NOT announce encores include violinist Benjamin Beilman, who played with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra; violist Nobuko Imai, who performed with the Pro Arte Quartet; pianist Maurizio Pollini in a solo recital in Chicago; and a UW professor who played a work by Robert Schumann that even The Ear didn’t know.
Performing artists who DID announce encores — many of then by Johann Sebastian Bach — included pianist Joyce Yang at the Wisconsin Union Theater; violinist James Ehnes and cellist Sara Sant’Ambrogio, both with the Madison Symphony Orchestra; UW-Madison pianist Christopher Taylor, who played sick but nonetheless announced and commented humorously on his encore by Scott Joplin, “The Wall Street Rag”; and violinist Alexander Sitkovetsky, who played recently with the Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra.
So it seems like there is no consistent standard that concert artists learn or adopt about handling encores. The Ear’s best guess is that it is just a personal habit the performers get used to over time.
But the Ear sure wishes that all performing artists would announce encores, program changes or additions.
It just makes the concert experience more fun and informative as well as less frustrating.
Is The Ear alone?
Do you prefer that artists announce or not announce their encores?
Or doesn’t it matter to you?
The Ear wants to hear.
Tags: Alexander Sitkovetsky, Arthur Rubinstein, Arts, Artur Rubinstein, Bach, Baroque, Beethoven, Ben Beilman, bicentennial, Carnegie Hall, Cello, Chamber music, Chicago, Chopin, Christopher Taylor, Classical music, composer, concerto, Emanuel Ax, encore, Holocaust, Jacob Stockinger, James Ehnes, Johann Sebastian Bach, John DeMain, Joyce Yang, Liszt, Ludwig van Beethoven, Madison, Madison Symphony Orchestra, Maurizio Pollini, Music, Nobuko Imai, nocturne, Orchestra, Piano, Pro Arte Quartet, rag, recital, Sara Sant'Ambrogio, Schumann, Scott Joplin, String quartet, symphony, United States, University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Viola, Violin, Waltz, Wisconsin, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Wisconsin Union Theater, YouTube
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